Prior to his appointmet to the
chief of the National Guard Bureau, he previously served as the commander of
First Air Force from 2023 to 2024. He served as the Director of Operations of the
National Guard Bureau from 2019 to 2022. From 2017 to 2019, he was the Commander of the
Air National Guard Readiness Center. Raised in
Ottawa, Ohio, Nordhaus attended
Ottawa-Glandorf High School, graduating in 1985. He is a 1989 graduate of the
United States Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. Nordhaus earned a Master of Science degree in organizational leadership from
Columbia Southern University in 2013. In July 2024, Nordhaus was nominated for promotion to general and appointment as chief of the National Guard Bureau. He was promoted to general and assumed his new appointment on 2 October 2024. He officially assumed the role in a ceremony on 15 October 2024. ==Awards and decorations==